How Do You Say Goodbye
by JoannaPiper
Summary: Phoebe, Piper, and Prue's mother did not die exactly when they thought she did, as Patty Halliwell faked her own death. Better summary inside.. plz. R&R O...and there is a 4th sister.


Phoebe, Piper, and Prue's mother did not die exactly when they thought she did, as Patty Halliwell faked her own death. The reason behind this was to avoid a warlock who would kill her along with the rest of the family. So she did the only thing she could: hide. No one else knew that she had faked her death except for Penny Halliwell, her mother. Patty managed to escape to New York, in hopes that she could lose the warlock in a large city, and two years later, Victor Halliwell (her ex-husband) ran into her. They had a short-lived, yet beautiful reunion, before he left Patty a second time.  
  
During this brief rendezvous, they conceived a fourth child: Portia, who is 8 years younger than Phoebe, and has the power of telekinesis (the same as Prue). Portia was told frequently of her older sisters and her grandmother and was instructed by her mother to "Tell the police that you have a grandmother who lives in San Francisco" in case the warlock found them.When Portia was 4, the warlock finally caught up with Patty and killed her, but Portia managed to escape. She made her way to San Francisco to locate her sisters.  
  
When this story takes place (the present), the original Charmed Ones are their normal ages (22, 25, 28), and Portia is 14.  
  
Portia awoke to the sound of the TV. It was Monday morning, and she wondered why she hadn't heard her alarm yet. It must be early, she thought, and looked over to the clock. She was shocked as she read the bright red numbers that glared at her. 10:00. She jumped out of bed and ran downstairs.  
  
Phoebe, the youngest of her older sisters was on the couch, channel surfing.  
  
"Hi!" she greeted Portia brightly.  
  
"Why didn't anyone wake me up?" Portia asked accusingly.  
  
"Well+" Phoebe began.  
  
"This had better be good," Portia said in a jokingly threatening manner.  
  
"Prue and Piper left for work early, and I know how much you don't love school, so... I turned off your alarm and let you sleep," Phoebe explained.  
  
"Thanks, Pheebs, you're the best," Portia said happily as she collapsed on the couch beside Phoebe. "What can I say?"  
  
Phoebe grinned. "To know me, is to love me."  
  
"Prue's gonna be mad," Portia reminded her.  
  
"Ah, you know Prue," Phoebe replied. "Deep down, she's a softie for all of us."  
  
The two sisters watched TV for a considerable amount of time, mostly soap operas. At about 1:00, Phoebe got up and went to the kitchen in search of something to eat. Portia was just about to yell at her to hurry up, because 'All My Children' was almost on, when there was a knock at the door.  
  
She looked regretfully at the inhabitants of Pine Valley as their faces flashed across the screen, and got up to see who was there. When she opened the door, the tall scary-looking man did't even give Portia time to scream as he grabbed her, and hit her forcefully with a metal pipe. She slumped and fell to the floor unconcious. The man grabbed her arm and quickly injected Portia with an unpleasantly long needle, before leaving as quickly as he had come.  
  
Phoebe walked briskly back to the living room, slightly worried by the noise she had heard coming from the entrance to the manor.  
  
"Who was at the..." she started to ask, but trailed off as she saw the unconscious body of her baby sister on the floor.  
  
"Portia!" she knelt down beside her sister and shook her gently. Portia moved slightly and opened her eyes.  
  
"My head..." she murmured. "Oh, it hurts, Phoebe it hurts." Tears ran down her face.  
  
"Shhh, it's going to be ok," Phoebe said, stroking Portia's hair gently as the young teenager choked with angry sobs. She knew she shouldn't try to make Portia think that everything was going to be work out just fine, because Phoebe didn't even know what had happened to her - but she couldn't bear to see anyone she loved suffer.  
  
Portia's tears gradually subsided and Phoebe helped her to the couch, before frantically dialing the number of Buckland's Auction House. She was sure Prue would be there - workaholic that she was, she never took a lunch break.  
  
"Please pick up, please pick up," she pleaded with the phone. As if Prue had heard her, she answered.  
  
"Hello, this is Buckland's, Prue Halliwell speaking."  
  
"Prue, there's a major emergency."  
  
"What did you break this time?" Prue asked accusingly.  
  
"It's not me, it's Portia." Phoebe was slightly annoyed. Every time she called Prue at work, her older sister always assumed she had broken something, or done something stupid, and that was never the case. Almost never.  
  
"OK then, what did Portia do?" Prue was starting to get impatient, Claire was on the warpath, and she had so much work to do.  
  
"No, Prue." Phoebe glanced anxiously at Portia, who was rubbing her head in a futile attempt to force away her headache. "Someone's after us, and he attacked Portia."  
  
Prue's eyes went wide, and her heart skipped a beat. "Call Piper and tell her to come home, I'll be there as soon as I can."  
  
Prue didn't give Phoebe time to respond before she hung up the phone and ran out of her office.  
  
Ten minutes later, Prue was home. She had broken all speed limits, and disregarded everything she had ever learned about safe driving, but she was home. Piper, who in her hurry to get home had forgotten to leave anyone in charge of P3, soon joined her and her two younger sisters.  
  
"I'm fine," Portia kept insisting. Her tone was so convincing that her sisters almost believed her, but when she tried to stand up she couldn't, and fell back onto the couch. Piper, who had always been the worrying type, was almost in hysterics, Phoebe was pacing the floor, Prue was trying to rationalize things, and Portia kept saying that she was sure she'd be fine v though she really wasn't sure.  
  
"Come on, stop worrying, nothing's going to happen to us," Portia attempted to reassure her sisters, but they had sprung into full 'Book Of Shadows mode'. The search was fruitless: they didn't even know what Portia's assailant looked like. Meanwhile, Portia was getting weaker by the minute. Deep down, she knew things were looking bad for her, but that wasn't the greatest of her worries. What she was really worried about was when the guy who attacked her was going to come back. He had probably wanted her power - it wasn't like warlocks had no motives.  
  
Portia didn't have to wait terribly long for him though, because he soon came crashing through the door of the manor. Not very inconspicuous, she thought but maybe these warlocks didn't have much time to work on conspicuity, what with plotting the deaths of witches. Prue took quick action, and made a quick, powerful motion with her hand. The warlock went flying and landed hard against the wall. Hard enough to break his neck. "Rookie," she said as the dead warlock slumped to the floor and exploded in a cloud of dust, shocked at how easy it had been to get rid of the threat.  
  
"Oh good, no cleanup," Phoebe said gleefully.  
  
"Hey guys," Piper said, looking up from the Book Of Shadows. "I think I've found something. That was a Drainer. They infect a good witch with a poison that makes them weaker and weaker until they die - after which, their power is transferred to the Drainer. It seems that Prue stumbled upon the only way to kill it, breaking its neck. Unfortunately+" she paused, a panicked look crossing he features.  
  
"What, unfortunately what?" Portia asked frantically, her voice lacking its usual lilting, happy tone.  
  
"Unfortunately, when he dies, his draining spells are not reversed. There's a reversal spell that can be performed after the Drainer is killed, but it will not work if the draining of the witch's strength has progressed too far."  
  
"We have to hurry then," Prue said decisively, running to the kitchen to get the ingredients for the spell.  
  
Phoebe, Piper, and Prue quickly mixed the herbs and sprinkled them lightly on Portia, but it had no effect.  
  
"Are you sure it isn't working?" Phoebe asked nervously. "Maybe you just have to wait awhile."  
  
Piper shook her head. "the book says that the spell is supposed to take effect immediately."  
  
"Okay, all this means is that we have to try the spell again," Prue said, trying to mask the worry in her voice.  
  
They cast the spell twice more , but to no avail.  
  
Portia's breathing was shallow, and she knew that she didn't have much time left.  
  
"You..don't have to keep trying for me," she told her sisters. "Maybe it's... maybe it's better this way. All the wicca books say that three is the most powerful number. You'll... be stronger," she smiled weakly.  
  
Piper and Phoebe were crying miserably. Prue was trying to be strong for all of them, especially Portia, but she couldn't keep her bitter tears from falling.  
  
"No." she said firmly. "We have to keep trying the spell. We can't lose you."  
  
"You were always the tough one," Portia said playfully, reaching out for Prue's hand. Prue took it gently, while Phoebe held her other hand and Piper stroked her hair softly.  
  
"It's my fault," Phoebe said mournfully.  
  
"Phoebe, this isn't anyone's fault but the warlock's," Piper attempted to console her.  
  
Phoebe spoke slowly and quietly. "If I hadn't let Portia stay home from school today he never would have infected her."  
  
"I don't blame you," Portia told her. "You know as well as I do that I could never be mad at you, and besides, it really wasn't your fault. It's just..." she trailed off.  
  
"What is it?" Piper asked gently. "Come on, sweetie, you can tell us."  
  
Portia half smiled. Piper had always reminded her of Elinor from the movie 'Sense & Sensibility', who called everyone "Dearest".  
  
"It's just that I'm... scared," she whispered. "I don't want to leave you." The tears she had been trying to force away were falling full stream now, and Phoebe, Piper and Prue were still weeping. "It's not fair."  
  
"You're not going to die. We're going to do the spell until it works," Prue refused to give up.  
  
You've tried it three times already," Portia spoke softly. "If it was going to work, it would have the first time."  
  
The three oldest sisters knew this deep down, but they loved Portia too much to let her go. Portia spoke again, her voice barely audible, for she was getting so weak, it took almost all of her strength just to keep her eyes open.  
  
"Keep all our memories. Never let them go, and I'll be with you... forever."  
  
"Like when you first came to us," Phoebe remembered fondly. "I was 12, and so used to being the baby of the family. Then you came along, and suddenly, I had someone who would look up to me." Prue smiled. "I was 18, and I could hardly bear to leave you for college. I had to go just months after you came."  
  
Piper looked at Portia with immense pain in her eyes. "I remember you cried harder than any of us when she left."  
  
Portia smiled and closed her eyes, and with that, she was gone forever, leaving her beloved sisters behind.  
  
END 


End file.
